But the boss of Solomon Lew's Premier Investments retail group has joined a raft of business groups in attacking the move, saying penalty rates are a huge cost for companies.

"Customers aren't sitting at home relaxing on their couches on weekends, they're out shopping so we've got to open and serve them," chief executive Mark McInnes said.

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"And the fact that we've got to pay high penalty rates for that seems almost ridiculous and it feels like the government has got its head in the sand, or at least in the 1950s or 1960s, on what's going on in the retail marketplace."

He also attacked the government for not lowering the threshold on which GST is charged on goods bought online from overseas websites, saying it would ultimately cost Australian jobs.

Chairman Solomon Lew said Premier would have to consider both issues into account when looking at possible acquisitions in Australia.

"We need stable government, we need stable policies, we've got issues in relation to an unfair GST tax imbalance and we are reviewing these conditions continuously," he said.

"If the right opportunity came up and we were going to make good returns for our shareholders then we would move at that time."

Premier's criticisms came as it unveiled a 20.7 per cent rise in first half profit to $46.46 million.

The result was buoyed by solid performances by fashion chains Portmans, Dotti, Just Jeans and Jacqui E.

However while the Jay Jays jeans chain continued to underperform, Premier said it was confident that its investment in the brand would start to pay off soon.

Premier's roll out of more stores for sleepwear chain Peter Alexander and stationary brand Smiggle also paid off for the company.

There were six Peter Alexander and 14 Smiggle stores opened in Australia and New Zealand during the half.

Another two Smiggle stores opened in Singapore.

But Mr McInnes and Mr Lew lashed out at shopping centre landlords for what they called exorbitant rents and said the company would consider closing stores that had high costs.

"We really don't want to close our stores and both the landlords and the unions have got to take responsibility for that," Mr McInnes said.

Shares in Premier Investments, which is poised to enter the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index, were 14 cents, or 1.8 per cent, higher at $7.84 at 1445 AEDT.